The entire article is worth reading, and may shock you into action. Here is the first paragraph of the article:

“In the space of one hour, my entire digital life was destroyed. First my Google account was taken over, then deleted. Next my Twitter account was compromised, and used as a platform to broadcast racist and homophobic messages. And worst of all, my AppleID account was broken into, and my hackers used it to remotely erase all of the data on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook”

However, I must admit that the Wired article was a bit of a personal wake-up call for me. While I have always used rather complex passwords, I do slip into some of the other bad habits at times. But lately, I have gone through the simple list above and made adjustments to my personal online security situation regarding passwords. I want to point-out a few practical steps that we all can take to help secure things.

First, I recently took the time to add additional security for access to my personal email accounts from non-trusted computers. This process is easy for Google Gmail and Yahoo mail.

Second, I found this sixty minute security make-over article to be well-done and helpful. It discusses linked social media accounts and a host of other areas that need to be addressed by all of us for better security.

Third, even if you don’t follow these extra security steps, at least regularly change your passwords to something a bit more complex and don’t reuse them across home and work. Also, back up important data.

I know, I know. Security pros have known about these basic password steps for years. But actions speak louder than words. And there is too much at stake with our online data to do nothing. I like many of these new precautions, since one-time actions can provide much better overall protections.

What are your thoughts on personal passwords? Any ideas to share?

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Building effective virtual government requires new ideas, innovative thinking and hard work. From cybersecurity to cloud computing to mobile devices, Dan Lohrmann will discuss what’s hot and what works in the world of government technology.